A few post ago we talked about "The Future of Horticultural Businesses is in The Best Sellers List". It concerned what books are best sellers in the horticulture and garden section at Amazon.com. I said, " as a person who makes their living working with gardeners it’s a signpost for the future as we decide which direction the garden center is to take.

I noticed looking at the list that "Aquaponic Gardening: A Step by Step Guide to Raising Fish and Vegetables Together has been climbing in the list to number 5. According to the product description "aquaponics is a revolutionary system for growing plants by fertilizing them with the waste water from fish in a sustainable closed system. A combination of aquaculture and hydroponics, aquaponic gardening is an amazingly productive way to grow organic vegetables, greens, herbs, and fruits, while providing the added benefits of fresh fish as a safe, healthy source of protein. On a larger scale, it is a key solution to mitigating food insecurity, climate change, groundwater pollution, and the impacts of overfishing on our oceans."

Last year I wrote a post where I said, "we are at the cusp of a gardening revolution". One of the subjects of that post was a company called, "Portable Farms" where they make turn-key aquaponic systems. Read why their customers are buying these systems here. Also read what people are doing to make themselves more self-reliant. It's not traditional stuff we are used to selling, but then as we move into the future traditional stuff just isn't cutting it. So this is one area where the public seems interested, and from what I can see no one in traditional garden centers is addressing. It's a huge opportunity for the locally owned garden center or nursery(LOGON).

Many of my fellow nursery people are struggling to make ends meet. The traditional methods and items they have used or sold in the past are just not bringing in the profits like they use to. Many are going under. What can they do to re-invigorate themselves and their business? We need to sell ideas as well as items. We need to be the resource for the community when it comes to self-reliance. That means being up to date on what's on the customer's mind. Check out the local magazine rack. "Mother Earth News" is now one of the fastest growing magazine in the country. What do you do when someone comes in and asks about, "deep organic gardening techniques"? Will you have an answer?